Klaus Abbelen

Klaus Abbelen
Born	(1960-09-15) September 15, 1960 Germany
Occupation(s)	Racing driver, entrepreneur
Known for	Racing career, team principal of Frikadelli Racing

Klaus Abbelen (born 15 September 1960) is a retired German racing driver and entrepreneur. He frequently participated in events organized at the Nürburgring, such as the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie and the Nürburgring 24 Hours. As the team principal of Frikadelli Racing, Abbelen guided his squad to triumph in the 2023 edition of the 24 Hours of Nürburgring.

Abbelen is the proprietor of Abbelen GmbH, a family-operated company specializing in traditional German Frikadelle production. He was married to the late German racing driver Sabine Schmitz until her passing in 2021.

Racing career

Abbelen launched his endurance racing journey in 1999, securing second place in class A of the Ferrari Porsche Challenge behind the wheel of a Porsche. In 2002, although he was unable to qualify for the 24 Hours of Nürburgring, he achieved third place overall in the Euro GT Series competing with Team W&A.

During 2003, Abbelen took part in several championships: he raced in the Euro GT Series; contested two events in the FFSA GT Championship alongside Stéphane Ortelli for Chateau Sport; competed in the FIA GT Championship driving a Chrysler Viper for Zwaan's Racing with teammates Arjan and Robert van der Zwaan, finishing 19th overall; and participated in a single Porsche Supercup race representing DeWalt Racing.

In 2004, he piloted a Saleen S7-R for Konrad Motorsport within the European Le Mans Series and made a return to Zwaan's Racing in FIA GT, though without achieving podium results.

By 2006, Abbelen and Sabine Schmitz were co-driving the #97 Porsche 911 (997) for Land Motorsport in the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie endurance competition.

Abbelen made his debut at the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2016, joining forces with Patrick Huisman, Sven Müller, Frank Stippler, and Sabine Schmitz to finish twelfth in the GTD category.

Prior to the NLS8 round of the 2025 Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie, Abbelen declared his intention to retire. However, following an early gearbox malfunction, he delayed retirement to participate solo in NLS9, aiming to complete a full race as his final appearance.

Frikadelli Racing

Abbelen is co-founder and owner of Frikadelli Racing, a sports car racing team based in the Eifel region. He managed this team together with his wife Sabine Schmitz until her death in 2021.

A significant achievement for Frikadelli Racing came with their victory at the 2023 24 Hours of Nürburgring, driving a Ferrari 296 GT3 piloted by Earl Bamber, Nicky Catsburg, Felipe Fernández Laser, and David Pittard. This win marked Ferrari’s inaugural success at this event and ended a twenty-year period dominated by German manufacturers since Zakspeed’s triumph with a Chrysler Viper GTS-R in 2002.

External links

• Official company website